Free Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley by Sharon Lathan Page A

madly in love with you, yet successfully fought against it during my waking hours. Then I would dream of you in such a vivid and delightful yet crude and disrespectful manner. Mornings were horrible. I would wake in a sweat, weary, aroused, and ashamed."
    He paused, gazing into her beloved eyes. "On retrospection, I was never successful in denying my affection for you. I simply managed to deceive myself, employing my years of discipline to bury my thoughts and urges. That particular morning was one of many in which I woke in a heightened state, unfit for company, and in need of oblivion from my decadent musings. Parsifal offers that. We love running fast, as you are aware. There is a freedom to the exercise. You become one with your horse, and the power and concentration necessary invade your mind and erase all else. It is liberating." He paused again, smiling dreamily and firmly gripping her feet in his lap. "When I encountered you so abruptly, standing on the fence watching me, my first thought was that I was still in a dream. God, Elizabeth, if you only knew how beautiful you were! Your simple dress, the green one it was, no bonnet or fancy gloves, your hair pinned but loose about your lovely face, your feet bare, your eyes shining and cheeks flushed. You took my breath away! Nothing in my dreams compared to the reality of how stunning you were. I wanted to leap off Parsifal and into your arms with an aching desire beyond anything I had ever experienced in all my life, and it was only my embarrassingly acute aroused state that kept me on his back!"
    "Hmmm... Perhaps you should have leapt, William. Think how differently things may have gone."
    "Do not tease me, Elizabeth. I was a beast, and you would have slapped me or kicked me in a painful location, and rightfully so!"
    "Maybe not. I was examining your neckline far too boldly and reliving the touch of your hand. That is why I snapped at you so rudely. You unnerved me."
    Darcy kissed her covered knees, laying his cheek on her thigh. "No use contemplating might have beens, my love. We are here now and you are more beautiful and I am yet again breathless and captivated. Now, as then, my mind and heart are consumed by you, dearest wife."
    Lizzy beamed, fingering his soft hair as they stared at each other. "I love you, William. Thank you for sharing with me, for persevering in your suit, and for tolerating my fluctuating moods. I do not deserve you but am abundantly grateful that you are mine!"
    He rose to his knees, hugging her body with hands on her hips. "I am eternally yours and you are eternally mine." He kissed her slowly and thoroughly, voice husky when he next spoke, "We need to return to the manor for dinner, love. Are you feeling well?"
    "Very well," she whispered, seizing his mouth while hands roamed over his chest, unbuttoning the waistcoat. "Love me, Fitzwilliam, as you wanted to before."
    "Elizabeth! It is broad daylight. You..." She strengthened the force of her kiss and focused her fondling, eliciting a deep groan from her husband. Finally, struggling for breath and control under the insistence of her attack, he uttered, "Oh sweet Lord, Lizzy! Someone could happen by. We should not..."
    "No one passes this way, my lover. No one but you, that is." She pushed his unresisting body backward onto the grass, following with kisses over his now exposed abdomen.
    Gasping, he clasped her shoulders. "What... What about those other dozen men?"
    She looked up in surprise, "There were never any others, William. Surely you knew I was jesting?"
    He grinned. "I had to be certain." Relenting happily, he pulled her up, kissing roughly. "Elizabeth, how I love you! Is there any fantasy or dream you would not fulfill for me?"
    She smiled, caressing his face. "Why are you so certain I am fulfilling merely a fantasy of yours, William? Did you not think I ever dreamt of your delectable neck and ardent kisses and arousal as witnessed under these hanging branches?" Nibbling the tender